Biographer Girl
by Kaisa Enara
Summary: Feedback recruits a new member to his Tech Support. [from Who Wants To Be A Superhero...?]


_I don't know why it's taken me so long to post this here—I've only had it done since December. Anyway, welcome to part three of my Tech Support origin story. _

_Right. I'm sure you know by now that Feedback isn't mine; I don't feel like writing another disclaimer, so for those of you that really give a care (all none of you, I'm sure), go check the disclaimer in "Mnemonic." _

**Biographer Girl **_by Kaisa Enara_

"Can I help you?"

Courtney chewed her bottom lip as she looked at the bored-looking receptionist, and tried to figure out what to say.

"I'm looking for Mr., um..." She fished the crumpled business card out of her coat pocket and checked the name. "Mr. Atherton. Is he in?"

"Yeah. You have an appointment with him?"

"Uh, not really, just...he said come by when I could and...I could today. So I'm here, I guess. Could you just let him know that Courtney's here to see him?"

The receptionist picked up her phone, pressed a button, and looked back up at Courtney. "You got a last name, honey?"

"No," Courtney replied. "I mean, yes. But it doesn't matter because Mr. Atherton wouldn't know it. Could you just tell him that I'm the girl from the grocery store? I'm sure he'll remember me."

_I _hope_ he'll remember me,_ she silently amended.

The receptionist shot her another look, and Courtney almost wanted to apologize. She could only imagine how weird it must have sounded to the woman: she (Courtney) was just a lost-looking kid who'd wandered into the Forthright Industries building, asking to see an employee she'd met at the grocery store, and giving absolutely no reason for her being there beyond that.

Then again, the truth wasn't any less strange. What should she have said? "Hi, I'm looking for Matthew Atherton, whose superhero alter ego saved my life last month. But then he forgot me because his video-game powers give him amnesia, so, when I ran into him at the store the other day I reminded him who I was. And he sent me a note asking me to come here and see him, but I'm not entirely sure why"? Oh, yeah. That'd go over well. She'd be dragged off the premises in a straitjacket.

Someone must have picked up on the other line just then, because the receptionist pressed the phone to her ear and started talking. "Someone to see you, Matt." Pause. "Nope. No idea. Says she's Courtney from the grocery store." Pause. Long pause. "Yep. Got it."

As she placed the receiver back on its cradle, Courtney replaced the business card in her pocket and turned to leave. With her luck, Feedback had forgotten about her _again_ and the receptionist was about to chuck her out anyway.

"Hey, where you goin'?" the receptionist asked. "He said he'd be down to see ya in a sec."

Courtney stopped. That was unexpected. Nice, but unexpected.

A minute or so later, the elevator doors at the far end of the room dinged open to reveal Feedback, a man to whom Courtney owed not only her life, but a couple gallons' worth of gas money.

Of course, he wasn't Feedback at the moment. He was just Matthew Atherton, your average mild-mannered software engineer.

"Courtney! You made it!" he said, striding over to her.

"Hi!" she replied. "Sorry I couldn't come earlier in the week. School, you know?"

"It's fine. I'm glad you came at all."

She shrugged. "Well, I_ did_ say that if there was any way I could repay you for—" She closed her mouth abruptly and glanced around at the receptionist and various comers and goers. "Shutting up now."

"Thanks. Come on, we'll talk more in my office."

A short elevator ride later, Courtney found herself standing in a cluttered little office where the only clear spaces were the swivel-chair, the keyboard, and some of the floor.

"Sorry it's such a mess," Matt said, moving a stack of papers off another chair. "I didn't know you were going to be here today."

Courtney shut the door and sat down on the newly-cleared chair. "I don't mind," she said politely. And really, she didn't. In fact, it was kind of cool to know the hero's office looked like her room did most of the time: like a tornado had blown through it. It made him seem more...human.

"So, you said you wanted to talk to me about repaying you," she started. "Oh, and I brought five bucks for you. I don't know how much gas you used up driving me home that day, but I think this should cover it."

"Keep it," Matt said. "I had something a little more...permanent in mind."

"Gee, _that_ sounds ominous. So. What is this more permanent form of payment, exactly?"

"Well, after you gave me that picture on Saturday, I started thinking," he explained. "I lose memories every time I use my powers, and I have no way of knowing what—or how much—I've forgotten. I've got people working on finding out where my memory's going and how to get it back but...well, to be honest, no one's made much headway so far."

"Okay," Courtney said. "Great. And I fit into all this..._how_?"

"The more I thought about it, the more I realized how nice it would be if I had all my remaining memories backed up someplace so I could take stock of what's left and see where the holes are. And since I can't just plug a jump drive into my brain..."

Courtney couldn't resist: "Well, you _could_, but I wouldn't recommend it. Sounds kinda painful."

Matt grinned and moved on. "Anyway, since I can't do that, I was hoping I could have someone else write it all down, so I'd have a kind of running biography going. I was hoping I could have _you_ write it all down, if you're interested."

"So...that's how I'm going to pay you back? By being the Jonas to your Giver?"

Matt just blinked at her. "Um...what?"

"You know, _The Giver?_ Lois Lowry?" Courtney tried. "You've never read it, have you?"

"Sorry, no."

"Well, you should. It's a really good book."

"Okay. So...you'll do it?"

Courtney gave an enthusiastic nod. "Absolutely! When do I start?"

"I'd have to get you all set up with Tech Support first, but—"

"Wait," Courtney cut in. "I'm all lost again. What's Tech Support?"

He grinned again. "I could tell you, but since you'll be a part of it soon, I think I'd rather show you. Do you need to get home soon?"

She shook her head. "Nah. As far as my dad knows, I'm at a work-night for my school newspaper. I can get back home by eight and he won't worry."

"Oh, good. Why don't you come with me?"

Courtney was a little surprised when, sometime later, she realized they were cruising down Airport Drive. "Um, Feedback? Matt?" she asked. "We're not..._flying_ anywhere, are we? Because I don't think I'll be able to make it home by eight if we're going to be taking a plane trip. Unless you've got one of those crazy supersonic jets that all the superheroes seem to have." She considered what she'd just said, and then asked, "_Do_ you have one of those crazy supersonic jets?"

"Well, _actually..._" Matt laughed as Courtney's eyes widened. "Don't worry, we're not flying anywhere. The access road for Headquarters is near the airport."

They drove on in silence for a while. Courtney knew that she could trust Matt—he was a superhero, after all—but she couldn't help but be reminded of all the warnings about getting into cars with strangers. Then again, he'd saved her life; he hardly counted as a stranger anymore. The highway they were on took them farther and farther from the city, deep into the Southern California countryside.

He turned down a side road. Courtney wanted to ask questions about what appeared next, but something about the abandoned structures of the ghost town encouraged silence. She resolved to ask later, when they got their destination, just as Matt pulled up to an unremarkable three-story building. Matt parked the car, and he and Courtney got out and walked to the front door.

"Here, I'll get it," Courtney said. She grabbed the door handle and pulled. When nothing happened, she paused, looked for a "push" sign, didn't find one, pulled again, and got the same result. "I think it's stuck."

"It's not. Here, let me." Matt took hold of the handle and looked at a small panel set into the door. A green light Courtney hadn't noticed blinked on, and the door unlocked with a click. "Retinal and fingerprint scanners," he explained. "We'll get you put into the system in a little while."

"Okay," Courtney said.

What was just inside the door made her do a double-take. They'd gone straight into what looked like a small indoor park. To the right, there were two exits: one read _Hangar Bay_ and the other _Elevator Bay_. On the far wall was a door that led, according to the sign above it, to the lunch room.

"Welcome to Tech Support HQ," Matt said.

Courtney stopped goggling at the place long enough to look at him and say, "Well fantastic, but I still don't actually know what Tech Support is."

"It's...well, you know how some superheroes have sidekicks? I'm lucky enough to have a whole team of them," Matt said. "About fifty, give or take, all with different areas of expertise. There are doctors, inventors, gamers, a fashion stylist...you name it."

"And I'm supposed to be joining up? Gosh, I feel all inferior already," Courtney muttered.

Matt heard her. "You won't be."

"Are you kidding? I'm the _biographer._ What's cooler, that or a guy who can design crazy supersonic jets?"

"Everyone's job is important here, including yours," Matt told her. "Don't worry; it'll be fine. Now, what do you say we go talk to the guy who designed the crazy supersonic jet? We need to get you some equipment."

The lab—a huge room located on the left-hand side of the first floor—was far emptier than Courtney had expected a lab in a superhero's secret base to be. In fact, there was only one occupant: all Courtney could see of his head was curly brown hair sticking over the top of a comic book. He reclined in his chair, feet propped up on a desk.

"Hey, Console," Feedback said.

The guy started; a moment later his feet were on the ground and the comic book had been stashed under some papers. "Matt!" he said, blinking in surprise. "Didn't expect to see you today."

"I wasn't going to come in," he replied. "Listen, I'll only need you for a minute, and then you can get back to your..." He glanced pointedly at the papers that hid the comic book. "...project. I'm sure it's important."

The guy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. All right, so what is it?"

Matt gestured to Courtney. "New recruit. Can you get her set up with a CAT and put her into the system so she can get inside?"

The other man hesitated, casting an almost suspicious glance at Courtney. "You sure about her, Matt?"

"Yes," Matt sighed. "She's just a kid; she's not giving information to Deathmatch."

"Who's Deathmatch?" Courtney asked, completely lost.

If the other guy had heard her, he didn't let on. "Kreix is a kid too," he said. "One of these days, Matt, you're going to listen to me. I'm telling you, he and Sequel are spies."

"I trust them," Matt said. The tone of his voice made it clear that the discussion was over.

The other guy looked like he was about to say something else, but he just exhaled sharply and stalked off. The lab was silent.

Nearly a minute later, Courtney spoke. "So...um...who was that just now?"

"Console. He's my head of research and development."

"Well, that's a weird name..."

"He doesn't use his given name much. Console's what he goes by here," Matt said.

Courtney grinned. "Dude, we get codenames? That is so cool! What's mine?"

"Whatever you want it to be," Matt said with a smile and a shrug. "Most people here have codenames that have something to do with their job around here, if that helps."

"Well..." Courtney thought for a moment. "I dunno. I mean, I'm just going to be the girl who writes stuff about you so you don't forget as much. Biographer Girl, maybe?"

"If you like it," Matt said, but he looked uncertain.

"I don't. It's a sucky codename." She sighed. "I just can't think of anything!"

It was quiet again. Where had Console gotten to?

"Hey, I think I've got something!" Feedback exclaimed suddenly. "A codename, that is."

Courtney brightened. "Cool! What is it?"

"I think I'll surprise you."

Her smile faltered. "Well, okay. I guess." Not that she didn't trust him or anything, but what if it was something stupid?

_Oh, shut it,_ she told herself. _It can't be any worse than Biographer Girl._

"All right, I got it." Console stepped back into the room, holding what looked like a blue PDA. He handed it to Matt and, with another suspicious glance at Courtney, sat down in his chair and pulled out his comic.

Matt turned the PDA-thingy on and started pressing buttons; Courtney could only guess at what he was doing. At the same time, Console piped up from behind his comic, "So, what's she going to be doing here?"

Courtney couldn't help but zone out a little as Matt explained. She'd heard this spiel before.

She tuned right back in when Console put down his comic book and stared at Matt like he'd lost his mind. In fact, those were the next words out of his mouth.

"Have you lost your mind? Matt, that's what the Memory Cards are for! Why did you hire someone whose job is already done?"

Matt just looked back at him, the very picture of confusion. "Memory Cards? Console, what are you talking about?"

There was a quiet _smack_ sound as Console's palm met his forehead. "Oh, great. Don't tell me you lost that too!" He shook his head. "You've got Memory Cards that you put in your gloves; they back up your memories and they're stored in the vault so you can view them later."

"Really? I can't believe I forgot that," Matt said.

Courtney frowned. "Great. Replaced by electronics an hour after I'm hired," she grumbled. "Well, thanks, Matt, but I guess I'd better get going."

"You're not going anywhere, Courtney. Console, would you get her the combination to the vault and something to play the files with? No reason we can't have my memories backed up in two different places."

"Sure, Matt. If you say so." Console slapped his comic book onto the desktop, rose from his chair, and was gone.

Matt hit a few more buttons on the PDA-thingy—he'd called it a CAT, but who knew what that stood for—and then he handed it to Courtney.

"Welcome to Tech Support, Mnemonic."

_Fin_

_I'd like to take this opportunity to thank a few people: **Schiz **__for beta-reading this for me, **Pre-Fetch **and **Back-Up** for answering my questions about HQ, **Console** for not hating me for making his character overly paranoid, **K2** for reviewing all these, **Feedback** for…well, being Feedback, and the rest of **Tech Support** for being so kind and supportive. You guys rock._


End file.
